Ezekiel 37:18

honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals. No abominable meat has come into my mouth!”

Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says, “Put the cauldron on the fire. Put it on, and also pour water into it.

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts. They had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse; for they are most rebellious.

“Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

The people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?”

“ ‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair;” but as for them, their way is not fair.

“As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from Yahweh.’

I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”

Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand,

“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.

and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign.

Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace.

In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,

They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse, for they are a rebellious house, yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them.

But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;’

and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar.

“Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon.

“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Moreover, in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! They say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’ ”

“You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his disobedience. And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins.

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.

Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.

Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”

Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

Yahweh said to Moses, “I am Yahweh. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I tell you.”

I will bring a sword upon you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you. You will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’

Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ ” So the people were faint.

Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me.”

The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.”

He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

At the return of the year, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of Yahweh’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,

“Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Every container should be filled with wine.” ’ They will tell you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every container should be filled with wine?’

A noise will come even to the end of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,” ’ says Yahweh.”

Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you captives, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ”

Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says,’ whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse.

and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: “Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.

Yahweh’s Spirit fell on me, and he said to me, “Speak, ‘Yahweh says: “Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord Yahweh.

“Son of man, you dwell in the middle of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are a rebellious house.

For the Lord Yahweh says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, the famine, the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!

“Son of man, tell a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

“What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;

“So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from me.

A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.

“Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’

He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country.

But they didn’t understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

“Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.